Patricia Wrightson and Aboriginal Myth‪.‬

The Problem of Ownership A number of Australian writers of European descent have used the medium of children's fantasy to explore the rich and, from a European cultural perspective, radically-estranged universe of Aboriginal legend. Fantasies such as Bill Scott's Boori (1979) and Jackie French's Walking the Boundaries (1993) have introduced many Australian schoolchildren to a somewhat sanitized version of Aboriginal beliefs, traditions, and history. The best-known of these writers--and perhaps for that reason the most controversial--is Patricia Wrightson. Her most ambitious work, a three-volume set that began with The Ice Is Coming (1977), received glowing reviews upon publication, and earned her many honors including a Hans Christian Andersen Medal.